It is with mixed feelings that we look on Rowan’s appointment to Canterbury.     We are all so sorry to lose him as our leader in the Church in Wales, but so thrilled that he has been chosen to lead the world -wide Anglican Communion.

We in ARM (Wales) have been greatly blessed having him as one of our advisors.   We have appreciated having his input to several Flames of Fire conferences.   This year as he was welcomed to the platform there was a standing ovation which lasted a long time.    We acknowledge that Canterbury is gaining someone very special, not only a learned theologian and caring shepherd but a humble and holy man.

May God use this man for his purposes in the difficult task he has been given, we shall count it a privilege to pray for him and his family and rejoice that he still wants to be associated with ARM (Wales) even though he will have a London address.

This year his Monday evening talk was about our real needs.    He spoke on our conference theme “ We need you Lord ”, taking as a text Matthew 6:7-13, which starts by reminding us that God knows our needs before we ask.

He focused on our recognising that our need was to become what God had made us to be.   But we need to be set free to be God’s children.   We are made so that we will grow into the stature of his fullness, we are made for intimacy with God, made for Jesus, made to say “Our Father”.

And so he reflected on the Lord’s prayer showing our need in every line.   Our need to see God’s name hallowed - until His name is hallowed I am not complete.

Our need for obedience and our need to worship - Your Kingdom come,  Your will be done as in heaven.  Our primary need is not for our security or welfare or even for our salvation, but for us to be brought to our created destiny as his sons and daughters and  for creation to be made new,  surrounded by worship as in heaven.

The second part of the prayer, our need for peace and protection depends on the first part.   If we are to grow in prayer we must see our needs, our hunger, our emptiness and our created nothingness in the context of God’s glorious purpose of praise and worship for all He has made.    It is the Bread of Hope, that carries us forward, the Bread of  Life - Jesus Christ - the Bread of tomorrow that we need.

We ask for forgiveness but we need to be “forgivers” as well as to be forgiven.    If we don’t forgive we are  holding away the  fullness of God’s purpose, we are blocking what God wants to do.   Rowan acknowledged the difficulties of giving this message but reminded us that there is work to do and if we did not forgive then it was as if our flesh was eaten away.    Remember what it cost God to forgive.

At the time of Jesus people were expecting a time of tribulation.   So speaking of ”trial and  tribulation”  he suggested that it needed to be as if when the test comes, we won’t notice it.    Can we pray that we are so faithful that we will just do what has to be done, just the next thing.      We need a steady walk forward, a little at a time.   We need to walk with our eyes on our Saviour not ourselves.

Protection from the evil one is from his lies, his untruth.  We need to know the difference between truth and falsehood.    “Tell the truth and shame the devil”     We must keep before us the truth that this prayer has taught us

It is a prayer about the cross - it requires the cross.  We pray in the shadow of the cross and need to walk the way of the cross.     For, “we need you crucified Lord”   we need you to  lead us in the way of the cross, the way of light and life………..

We need the power of the Cross.    In every line of the Lord’s prayer we see that the Cross and glory go  together.

Abba Father we NEED YOU,   and Need is a big word - He made us to need him.

(This is a very brief summary of Archbishop Rowan’s talk.     Tapes of all the talks can be obtained from Nam’s Tapeaway  Details from the secretary

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